The Holiday Leftover: Sam Sifton's Thanksgiving Eggs

Welcome to Eat Like a Man's 2012 Holiday Survival Guide, wherein we tackle some of the season's thorniest issues in food and drink to help you make it to January in one piece.

When it comes to holiday cooking, the issue isn't a lack of guidance out there for the kitchen novice. It's the overabundance. Over fifteen million results when you Google "roast turkey recipe." Seriously? Forget it. Pass the bourbon.

More From Esquire

So it is a very good thing that Sam Sifton, current national editor of The New York Times and the newspaper's former restaurant critic, has delivered us from the flood of contradictory advice with Thanksgiving: How To Cook It Well. This slim, immensely handy, Esquire-approved volume is just the thing for any man or woman looking for one good mashed potato recipe, not eleven weird ones. No cranberry foams, teriyaki turkey, or autumn tablescapes to be found here. Just straightforward, classic recipes and common-sense advice for hosting a holiday meal that works. How to shuck an oyster. How to set a table. Those kinds of things.

As for those of you who don't have the energy, guts, or permission to cook on Thursday, let's all agree that the least you can do is cover Friday's breakfast. Sifton's recipe for Thanksigiving eggs, below, is the only one you'll need: leftover stuffing, eggs, cheese, hot sauce, hot coffee. You'll be very popular.

Sam Sifton's Thanksgiving Eggs

Exhaustive research into the business and culture of American breakfast suggests that you can always put an egg on it. Cold pizza? Heat in the oven while frying an egg to soft, yielding perfection. Slide it onto the slice and top with freshly ground black pepper: brunch. Is there some beef or pork or lamb sitting in the fridge after a dinner party? Sizzle up chunks of it with butter and diced potatoes and bell peppers, then serve with eggs on the side: brunch. Thanksgiving detritus is no different. Leftover dressing can be pressed into a pan and baked in the oven with eggs and a dusting of cheese to create a breakfast dish of remarkable heartiness and good flavor.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 to 4 cups leftover Thanksgiving dressing

6 large eggs

2 tablespoons grated cheddar cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use the butter to heavily grease an 8-inch square baking pan and put into it the leftover dressing. Use the back of a spoon to press into this field of dressing 6 indentations into which you will later crack the eggs. Place the pan into the oven to heat for 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove heated dressing from oven and crack the eggs into the indentations. Sprinkle with the grated cheese and return to oven to bake until the eggs are just set, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Serve with hot sauce and coffee.